Convenience Stores Make Changes to Accommodate Pandemic Shoppers
The retailers’ popularity increased in the wake of fears about going to large stores, but the virus also made clear the need for some alterations in convenience store layouts.
Convenience stores experienced a rise in popularity during the pandemic as consumers were anxious about both the pandemonium-like and germ-inducing atmosphere of large supermarkets.
Yet, some of the benefits of convenience stores were offset by issues that hadn’t come to light until the virus’ arrival and the subsequent shift in shopping trends. Those issues have led to some changes in the segment, according to a new article from JLL.
“Convenience stores are inherently small-format, creating a natural conflict with social distancing,” says Josh Broehl, managing director at Big Red Rooster, a JLL company specializing in brand experience and retail design services. “Shoppers just don’t feel as comfortable in tight environments, especially today.”
The need for more signage and other visual cues to make sight lines clear became quickly apparent as well as the idea to alter the organization of some goods to create adjacent displays of complementary items making stores more user friendly and reducing the time needed for shopping.
Some existing offerings in some stores, such as self-checkout, became more critical to make the shopping experience faster and to cut down on the social interaction to pay for items.
Other tweaks have been made for those same purposes. According to Big Red Rooster, 56% of consumers feel “moderately” or “extremely safe” using curbside pick-up. Convenience store chains such as Kum & Go—which are spread across 11 states—and northeastern chain Alltown Fresh are trying out systems to provide that service.
Convenience stores also are making a foray into delivery service. A giant in the space, 7-Eleven, in August launched a partnership with Instacart, a third-party delivery service, to provide same-day delivery of groceries, alcohol and more in as little as 30 minutes. Customers can avail themselves of the offering through 7-Eleven’s mobile app.
There is one downside however to providing a delivery option, Broehl noted. Additional staffing is needed for fulfillment.
“This will require shifts in processes and labor allocation. Ringing up an in-store shopper’s order is very different from fulfilling a mobile order and delivering that to the shopper,” he said.
“In addition, changes are needed in the store to provide staging areas for product orders and new paths for employees.”